8/19 From 1970: May, Redus Deals; Mad Dog POTW; Game Stories; HBD Britt

• 1973 - Jim Rooker was a one-man wrecking crew, spinning a five hitter and batting 3-for-3 as the Pirates beat San Francisco and Juan Marichal 5-0 at TRS. Richie Hebner also added three hits, as he & Al Oliver went back-to-back with long balls, and Manny Sanguillen iced the cake with a two-run double.
• 1973 - RHP Britt Reames was born in Seneca, South Carolina. Britt spent parts of six years in the show with his final campaign as a Bucco in 2006, getting into five games and putting up a 9.82 ERA. He became the pitching coach for Furman and moved on to his alma mater, The Citadel, where he’s a member of the Bulldogs Hall of Fame.

Milt May - 1984 Topps

• 1983 - The Pirates traded Steve Nicosia to the Giants in exchange for Milt May and cash in a swap of backup catchers. May retired after the 1984 season and Nicosia, who was unhappy here playing behind Tony Pena, remained a reserve and played a bench role for three teams before giving up the tools of ignorance after the 1985 campaign. 
• 1988 - The Pirates swapped 1B/OF Mike Diaz, sending him to the Chicago White Sox for OF Gary Redus. Rambo ended the year with the Sox before heading to Japan to finish his career. Redus played first and some outfield for the Bucs until 1992, hitting .255 with 24 homers, 96 RBI, 157 runs scored and 69 stolen bases for Pittsburgh.
• 1985 - Bill Madlock was named the NL Player of the Week after going 9-for-22 (.409) and banging out four homers; he was the first Bucco to win the award this season. Unfortunately for the team, he was pretty much a one-man show as the club went 2-5 over the week.
• 1999 - Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh 1-0 at Cinergy Field‚ as Pete Harnisch and Scott Williamson combined for a one-hitter while whiffing 13 Bucs; Harnisch surrendered just a seventh inning single to Mike Benjamin. Kris Benson pitched a dandy of his own, scattering seven hits and punching out eight. He had a shutout going until one out in the eighth, when Sean Casey, in the midst of his breakout year, homered for the game’s only run.  
• 2012 - The Bucs outlasted the Cards at Busch Stadium to take home a 19-inning victory, 6-3. The teams ran through 16 pitchers before it was decided on a Pedro Alvarez homer off Barret Browning; El Toro became the first player in Pirates history to hit a home run in the 19th inning or later.  Usual starter Wandy Rodriguez was called on to work the last two frames and notched the W after both teams swapped runs in the 17th to keep the game rolling.  It was the first Pittsburgh road win of 19 innings or more since beating San Diego in 1979, and the first time the Pirates put up three runs or more in the 19th or beyond since 1912 against the Boston Braves.

Pedro Alvarez - 2012  Topps Tracker

• 2018 - The Pirates salvaged a hard-earned four-game split against the Cubs with a 2-1, 11-inning victory at PNC Park. Jameson Taillon (he struck out eight in six innings) and Carlos Quintana left the bullpens a 1-1 draw and the relievers carried on from there. Both sides ducked some bullets and blundered on the basepaths. The Bucs were especially egregious, having two runners thrown out at home and going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. After Richard Rodriguez left the bases full in the 11th, Brandon Kintzler got two easy outs before falling behind Adam Frazier 3-0; he grooved a fastball and Fraze wasn’t taking but hunting. He blasted the ball 413’, completely out of the park and onto the Riverwalk, for his second career walk off homer. The Pirates lost the first two games 1-0 and took the last pair by 3-1 & 2-1 tallies. Chicago set a quirky MLB record; all four of their runs came on solo homers, neatly meted out at one per game.